Artists Registry

A FACE TO A NAME

A short film by Douglas Sloan

Original music by Todd Rundgren

In the days after the 9/11 events, photographs of lost loved ones were posted on walls throughout the city. These walls of snapshots were an extraordinary phenomenon, representing both hope and desperation.  

Five days after the towers fell, a doctor working at Bellevue Hospital called me. He asked if I would be interested in documenting the "wall of prayers" at Bellevue. The postings of missing person photographs there had grown to cover the entire atrium of the hospital, and he felt this was something that should not be forgotten.  I felt that this was a kind of calling, as I spent the days following the attacks frustrated by my inability to volunteer in the rescue and recovery effort around Ground Zero.

Within 24 hours, I mobilized a film crew made up of people I work with often, and using film donated by Kodak, spent a day conducting audio interviews and filming the wall of prayers and the people there viewing it.

I was fascinated and moved by the qualities of the photographs posted. The choice of images by family members.  The notes, descriptions, and other writings that accompanied them.  These expressions of hope and loss brought up an intense mix of emotions for all of us.

I have collaborated with Todd Rundgren on and off for twenty years. Aware that the soundtrack had to straddle a fine line in its tonality, I thought Todd would be a perfect choice as composer. Todd agreed to develop the score for this film, in between his other commitments, over a period of three months.

The film captures a moment in time by documenting the phenomenon of the Bellevue wall of prayers.  I hope that it will allow viewers to spend a few moments quietly getting to know the people who perished on 9/11, and also to recall a unique moment in our lives.  I hope this film will help put A Face to A Name.

Everyone involved in the making of this film volunteered their talent, time and facilities.